Maiden leaves Auckland in Ocean Globe Race - 6,000 miles to Punta del Este
by Sal Hunter, The Maiden Factor 14 Jan 08:42 PST
Maiden/OGR 3rd Race Start Overview
Leg 3 of the Ocean Globe Race started on a beautiful sunny day in 15 knots of North Easterly breeze, offering, in true Auckland tradition, a fantastic spectacle.
The start was down tide and the 3 knots that was running under the boats caught at least one of them out, pushing them over the start line early, an expensive mistake, as the penalty is 6 hours added to their time.
Maiden had a conservative start, well back from the line in no danger of damage from other boats or costly penalties, with a clear breeze they quickly picked off most of the fleet to move securely into the lead pack.
The month long stopover has given the crews time to have a rest and to prepare the boats for this 6000 mile leg that will take them down into the Southern Ocean, once again, and round Cape Horn then back up the Atlantic to Punta Del Este.
Trust in the boat is vital to be able to push hard in this grueling leg.
When we left Auckland with Maiden in the Whitbread it was similar weather. The sun and breeze brought out a huge fleet of spectator boats; unfortunately, the marshalling of the spectators left something to be desired! Immediately after the start, as we sat on the rail, we watched in disbelief as The Card, one of the 3 ketch rigged maxis in the race, got their mizzen mast tangled with the rigging of a spectator boat, the smaller boat was pulled violently over to somewhere past 45 degrees before The Card's mizzen was pulled down and the smaller yacht pinged back upright, so The Card set off for Punta with one mast less than they would have liked. It turned out that a crew member and a dog were on the leeward side of the yacht as it was pulled over, neither of whom were harmed, not quite the afternoon jolly they had expected though!
Maiden/OGR 3rd Leg - Southern Ocean Overview
In Auckland most of the fleet had much needed time to relax and prepare their boats for what could be the toughest leg. The leg, over 6000 miles to Punta del Este, will again take the boats into the Grey World, that is the Southern Ocean.
They will sail down to the southern latitudes of the Roaring Forties. There they must stay north of 3 waypoints, the first 2 of which are at 50 degrees South and the third, dropping down to 53 degrees South to put the boats in a position to sail Round Cape Horn, the infamous Cape at the south of Tierra Del Fuero, a turning point for the boats from the Southern Pacific up into the Atlantic.
Cape Horn is a potentially dangerous area, the Drake passage between the Cape and The Antarctic continent is only 800 miles causing a funneling effect for the Low Pressure Systems whirling round the Southern Ocean, previously unimpeded by land. The water also shallows from over 4000 metres to 300 metres in only a few kilometres, making the wave patterns potentially short and steep with an increased risk of rogue waves, way bigger than the normal wave pattern.
On saying all that, when Maiden did the Whitbread, we left Auckland on a lovely sunny day and sailed for over a week before we got over 12 knots of breeze. We rounded Cape Horn in 10 to 12 knots with calm seas. Things got messy once we were round though, going upwind into a horrible sea state we had so much water over the deck that a breather pipe from a tank set up a syphon and filled the boat with a lot of water. It caused us considerable anxiety and time to work out and fix where the water was coming from!
Cape Horn certainly deserves its fearsome reputation.